In this case, no protein is ultimately produced from the junk gene, but an RNA is. If these jumping genes land close to a protein-coding sequence, they can affect the expression of that gene. There are junk DNA sequences that can jump around within the non-coding regions. Recent studies have shown that this massive chunk of the genome, so-called “junk” DNA, has some bearing on gene expression that has yet to be fully characterized. elegans fame called this junk DNA, as opposed to garbage DNA, because garbage you throw out and junk you keep. What is the other 98 percent doing? Fink joked that we could have named this uncharacterized part of the genome “dark matter”, but since that name was already taken… But these protein-coding regions compose only 2 percent of the genome.
Fink definition code#
So far, the definition “a segment of three-base-pair triplets initiated by a start codon and terminated by a stop codon” has been sufficient for computers to find all the regions of DNA that code for proteins.
Fink definition how to#
Computers are simple they can only find the genes in a string of nucleotides if we give them rules for how to find these genes. The premise of his talk was that it is important to have an accurate definition of what a gene is because of our newfound reliance on computers to find them for us. This guy invented that? How come I’ve never heard of him? It’s such common knowledge that I never thought to wonder about how it came to be, and yet it’s such a foundational technique in the field of genetics. Then, in 1977, my lab discovered yeast transformation.Īnyone who has been trained in basic molecular biology techniques knows about yeast transformation. I was frustrated because of the inability to engineer the DNA in yeast so that I could create yeast strains by design. I had never heard of Fink, so I skimmed through the bio until one part caught my eye: I then read the next panel, which was a mini-biography of Gerald Fink, the recipient of this year’s Killian Award and the person scheduled to teach us “What is a gene?” in a few minutes. It is awarded by other faculty members, which means the selection committee really knows what they’re doing. Faculty Achievement Award, which recognizes extraordinary accomplishments by full-time MIT faculty. That program informed me of the existence of the James R. I grabbed a program to read while waiting for the lecture to begin. It happens so often that it doesn’t even feel like a big deal anymore, but I know this isn’t happening at every school. Big names are drawn to our hallowed techy campus to speak to even the lowliest of undergrads. I don’t think I became a nerd UNTIL I came to MIT and was inundated with opportunities to hear from celebrities in science. What could this guest lecture actually be about?īrief sidebar here to mention that it is an incredibly nerdy thing to go to an optional lecture in my spare time for fun. This must be a Hail Mary review for those seniors who are struggling with the concept in the 7.01x biology class that they need to pass in order to graduate. It’s a piece of DNA that is transcribed into RNA that is translated into a protein. I thought that was a stupid question, because I know what a gene is. There had been signs up all over campus for a week or two advertising a guest lecture entitled “What is a gene?” I walked into 10-250 last Thursday not knowing what I was there for.
In 1982, Fink became a founding member of the Whitehead Institute. “Absolutely excellent, wonderful idea,” he whispered back. Fink remembers being a part of one meeting about Whitehead in which then-President of MIT Howard Johnson leaned over and quietly asked him if he thought Whitehead was a good idea. At the time, this was considered a “radical experiment” that faced much opposition. At the time, MIT faculty and administration were split over the idea of establishing an MIT-affiliated but independent research facility on campus that would be known as the Whitehead Institute.
In 1981, Gerald Fink was a professor at Cornell and a member of a visiting committee at MIT.
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